So I read this the other day and couldn't not try these suggestions.....

My neighbors literally stopped the car and asked if I just got a new paint job......I bout in 07 with 3miles on it; at 64k now. All I can say is this is the best my car has every looked, THANK YOU DANIEL, all recommendations you had for other members were spot on!!!

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So I read this the other day and couldn't not try these suggestions.....

My neighbors literally stopped the car and asked if I just got a new paint job......I bout in 07 with 3miles on it; at 64k now. All I can say is this is the best my car has every looked, THANK YOU DANIEL, all recommendations you had for other members were spot on!!!

Nice Job!! Glad to help

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattwillard06

My question is how about using the automatic car washes? When it's 5 below outside n I need to get the snow n slush off things don't really want to be outside.

Also what are your thoughts on using a California duster? Sometimes my truck sits for days n gets a light dust on it.

I don't use car washes, period. But I have an indoor area to wash my vehicles so I'm lucky.

If you're trying to keep a vehicle show quality, or just keep a black vehicle looking good, then car washes are for sure a

Course, if you're trying to keep a show quality finish, you can't drive one in salt and snow anyway, so it's a moot point.

Car washes that use brushes are very very bad for your finish. They are full of dirt and debris and it will scratch and swirl the hell out of a vehicle.
Using the brush at self service car wash will do the same. It's not as noticeable on a light colored vehicle, but wash a fully detailed and mirror finished black vehicle one time with a brush at a car wash and it will be instantly back to being full of micro scratches and/or swirls.

As far as the brushless automatic car washes, they're not going to scratch the finish, but they are also not going to get all of the stuff off the car either.

I drive my green 02 in the winter and park my black 08 because I know if I drive it during the winter I'll drive myself crazy trying to keep it clean and in the end the finish will get messed up one way or the other. With my 02 I just keep it sprayed off with a pressure washer until it gets so bad I can't stand it or we get a day of good weather. I don't waste a lot of time with it in the winter since I don't strive for a show quality finish on it and it's used every day as my work commuter, so it's pointless to be picky with it.

I guess if I was in your shoes, I'd just look for a really good brushless automatic car wash to keep the worst off. Either way, you'll have to do a full detail in the spring. Just might be less correction work if you don't use the ones with the brush all winter.

Using quick detailer and a good thick MF towel with very light pressure, good technique, and straight lines is far superior to a CA duster. A duster is "OK" for a light colored vehicle, but the damage they do really shows up on a black car. To prevent scratching you need to lubricate the surface. You just can't do that with a duster. We did some independent testing using a duster on half of a car and quick detailing the other half. After a few passes with a duster you can easily see micro scratching no matter how careful you're being.

If you're just removing dust that collects on a car sitting in a garage or showroom, and the duster has never been used for anything else, they might be halfway descent. But for what most people try to use them for, they suck.

It ultimately depends on how particular you are with your paint. Even though my 08 is not a show vehicle, I treat it as such since detailing is my hobby and it's the nicest toy I have right now. I'm very obsessive about my paint, and what some people wouldn't even notice, I flip out about.

Bottom line, if you spend hours polishing and buffing your paint to get rid of all imperfections and micro scratching, you'd be crazy to us a CA duster on it just to mess it right back up.

If you just wash and wax and go. Then you're probably going to like using one because of it's ease of use and since you're paint isn't going to be perfect to begin with, you're probably not even going to notice the damage.

But, consider this. When you use a good quality quick detailer and a MF, you're not only getting rid of the dust safely, but you're also enhancing the shine at the same time. Which IMO makes it much better.

When we're talking about removing dust with a quick detailer or a CA duster it's important that's it's very light dust. Not the kind you get from driving down a dirt road. If it's very dust or has thick heavy dust, grime, etc. you need to wash it to be safe. It's rare that you're going to be better off dusting off the vehicle vs. a wash.

That's basically telling you to do a proper 2 bucket wash just like what we talked about at the first of this thread. Only difference is that you're just using a car wash sprayer instead of your own hose at home.

By all mean, if you can use this method you're going to be much better off whether you do it at home or at a car wash with your own stuff. But, either way, you're still going to be outside doing it in the cold.

Using quick detailer and a good thick MF towel with very light pressure, good technique, and straight lines is far superior to a CA duster. A duster is "OK" for a light colored vehicle, but the damage they do really shows up on a black car. To prevent scratching you need to lubricate the surface. You just can't do that with a duster. We did some independent testing using a duster on half of a car and quick detailing the other half. After a few passes with a duster you can easily see micro scratching no matter how careful you're being.

If you're just removing dust that collects on a car sitting in a garage or showroom, and the duster has never been used for anything else, they might be halfway descent. But for what most people try to use them for, they suck.

It ultimately depends on how particular you are with your paint. Even though my 08 is not a show vehicle, I treat it as such since detailing is my hobby and it's the nicest toy I have right now. I'm very obsessive about my paint, and what some people wouldn't even notice, I flip out about.

Bottom line, if you spend hours polishing and buffing your paint to get rid of all imperfections and micro scratching, you'd be crazy to us a CA duster on it just to mess it right back up.

If you just wash and wax and go. Then you're probably going to like using one because of it's ease of use and since you're paint isn't going to be perfect to begin with, you're probably not even going to notice the damage.

But, consider this. When you use a good quality quick detailer and a MF, you're not only getting rid of the dust safely, but you're also enhancing the shine at the same time. Which IMO makes it much better.

My dust is just from sitting around in the parking lot at my apartment n from not being driven much in the summer ( usually on my Harley) so the Yukon sits a lot in the summer. If it rains I wash it but just try to dust it every day when it's not being driven. It is black so it shows swirls bad. I used the turtle wax black box kit system for black vehicles n it seems to work great. Any input on that? My Harley is also black so really need advice on the right things for a black vehicle. Jeep is yellow so it barely shows anything. Also for the tires I use spray foam n love the way it looks. It that bad? Use armor all on all my plastic (ie fender flares, running boards, mirror housings, etc). Is that ok?

I have to agree with Daniel. If you are serious about your finish and put some serious time and care into detailing, dusters really aren't a good choice. Dragging dust across your black paint will definitely leave fine scratches.

I was always told to stay away from armor all and tire foam since it has alcohol and silicone in it and can actually dry out your plastics. The tire foam actually reacts with the natural oils in the tire and causes dry rot. The meguire's protectant is pretty good but generally I don't use anything on my tires, dash, fender flares, ect. I do wax/seal the fender flares but my Jeep is always in the garage while at work and at home.

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My dust is just from sitting around in the parking lot at my apartment n from not being driven much in the summer ( usually on my Harley) so the Yukon sits a lot in the summer. If it rains I wash it but just try to dust it every day when it's not being driven. It is black so it shows swirls bad. I used the turtle wax black box kit system for black vehicles n it seems to work great. Any input on that? My Harley is also black so really need advice on the right things for a black vehicle. Jeep is yellow so it barely shows anything. Also for the tires I use spray foam n love the way it looks. It that bad? Use armor all on all my plastic (ie fender flares, running boards, mirror housings, etc). Is that ok?

The Black Box gives descent results, but it's a temporary fix. With it, you're filling in the scratches and not really getting rid of them. That's why it doesn't last. It's essentially like using a glaze. You're covering up the scratches, but you're not buffing them out, so they come right back when the fillers wear off.

With a black vehicle, you have to be always conscious of what you are doing and how it will affect the finish. Always use the lightest pressure possible when touching the paint. Use a good, soft, plush MF that has not been contaminated with dust, etc. Always wash, spray detail, wax, etc. in straight lines to prevent swirling. If you do scratch the paint (micro scratching from washing, detailing, etc.) it's much harder to see it if it's in a straight line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeepScrap

I have to agree with Daniel. If you are serious about your finish and put some serious time and care into detailing, dusters really aren't a good choice. Dragging dust across your black paint will definitely leave fine scratches.

I was always told to stay away from armor all and tire foam since it has alcohol and silicone in it and can actually dry out your plastics. The tire foam actually reacts with the natural oils in the tire and causes dry rot. The meguire's protectant is pretty good but generally I don't use anything on my tires, dash, fender flares, ect. I do wax/seal the fender flares but my Jeep is always in the garage while at work and at home.

You're 100% correct.

The best thing to use for tires to keep them shiny and not have to worry about ultimately harming your rubber is a water based tire dressing. I love Meguiar's Hyperdressing. It's water based. You buy a gallon and make up to 5 gallons out of it by diluting it with water. It's way cheaper than paying $7-$9 a bottle for Tire Wet, etc. It's better for your tires and for your paint. If it slings off on your paint it just wipes off, unlike the silicone based products that are extremely hard to get off your paint. With Hyperdressing you just spray it on and walk away.

I usually use it 1 part dressing and 2-3 parts water for tires and 1 part dressing to 3-4 parts water for under the hood on the hoses, etc.

For trim, however, the best thing out there that I've found so far is Ultima

This stuff is amazing. It's expensive but it lasts forever. It is silicone based so you don't want to get it on your paint. You want to use the least amount possible, too. A little bit goes a long way. I use foam paint brushes to apply it. It will make any trim look new again, instantly.

It's far superior to any of the stuff you can buy at Walmart, etc.

I also do not put anything on my dash, etc. There really is no need with newer plastics. And, most stuff does more harm than good, anyway.

Daniel - just read through your entire thread. My question concerns the best ways to remove scratches or defects from plastic chrome trim, like the license plate brows on the new Grand Cherokees? I'd be very interested in your techniques to remove the fine scratches in plastic trim pieces, thanks.

Daniel - just read through your entire thread. My question concerns the best ways to remove scratches or defects from plastic chrome trim, like the license plate brows on the new Grand Cherokees? I'd be very interested in your techniques to remove the fine scratches in plastic trim pieces, thanks.

If it's plastic that has the chrome film over it, you're going to have to be very careful. I've seen some plastic/chrome pieces that are very easy to mess up. Most stuff like that has a clear film over the chrome surface. If you go through that film it's going to look like paint would look if you burned through the clear coat. Then it will start peeling off and just make a huge mess. I'm not sure what type of plastic chrome you're dealing with, so it's sort of a hard question to answer.

You can try hand polishing it with a mild polish like M205 first and just see how it does. With anything you're not sure about, you always want to start with the least aggressive polish first and test it in a spot that won't show if it messes it up.

If it's not enough cut, then move up to something like Ultimate Compound or M105. But, if it's plastic, I would do it by hand. A buffer will most likely burn it or eat off the finish pretty quickly.

Dealership replaced the plastic chrome rear license plate brow today - and even the replacement piece has scratches! Not sure how to to treat it. I took the old piece to a body shop who tried buffing and it got half the scratches out. A detail shop I trust had no ideas either.

I would like to paint it, get it etched perhaps, then repainted a flat black. I need some product that fills in the plastic that scratches so easily.

Dealership replaced the plastic chrome rear license plate brow today - and even the replacement piece has scratches! Not sure how to to treat it. I took the old piece to a body shop who tried buffing and it got half the scratches out. A detail shop I trust had no ideas either.

I would like to paint it, get it etched perhaps, then repainted a flat black. I need some product that fills in the plastic that scratches so easily.